The night was as dark as ink, and the two dragon boats sailed up the river from a river in the lower reaches of the Han River, and after more than two hours of sailing, they carefully anchored on a small sandbar on the east bank. There are many such sandbars on the river, and when the water rises, it does not meet the underwater, forming shallows, and if you are not careful, the ship will run aground. And when the rainy season is over, they come out of the water or disappear, so that people don't bother to name them.

After the ship was anchored, several people jumped off the boat and went ashore on the river that did not reach the root of their legs, and carefully searched the twenty zhang radius near the shore, and arranged a guard before sending out the signal. The boat lowered the gangplank, and two lines of people rushed out of the boat and lined up on the sandbar.

"Your Majesty, let me go too, there are too few people!" Zhang Hao, the deputy commander of the Imperial Navy, asked again.

"There are too many people, but it is easier to be exposed, and I have too many of these people." Zhao Yu waved his hand and said, "You will hide nearby, and come to answer immediately after receiving the signal." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Zhang Hao said very reluctantly. This time, the little emperor insisted on going deep into the hinterland of Xiangyang to conduct secret reconnaissance, and everyone tried to persuade him to no avail, but he only brought a team of 30 people to accompany him, which was really reassuring.

"Withdraw!" Zhao Yu got off the boat and immediately urged him to leave quickly. Zhang Hao sighed, ordered the hatch to be closed, and ordered to evacuate. The two dragon boats slowly sailed out of the shore under the urging of the oarsmen, and sailed into the middle of the river, a lantern flickered a few times from the mast, and soon three more dragon boats upstream joined them, and then went downstream in formation, and soon melted into the dark rainy night.

"Now that we have entered the enemy territory, we emphasize once again that we are scouts of the Seventh Army, and we must not reveal Your Majesty's identity under any circumstances, and we will all be called Huang Wulang from now on......" Niu Laifu, the deputy commander of the guard battalion, told again. Although it was not the first time to mess around with His Majesty, this time it was different, which made him feel a great responsibility, lest there be a trace of mistakes.

"Don't be verbose, everyone remembers, it's annoying to say it, let's go!" Zhao Yu said impatiently, picking up the gun and urging.

"Yes, Fifth Brother!" Niu Laifu habitually stood upright, wanted to raise his hand to salute and quickly put it down, turned his head and said, "Set up a safety rope and cross the river!" ”

As soon as the order was given, two people swam across the river with ropes on their backs, and pulled up a safety rope on the sandbar and the bank. When Zhao Hao came ashore, he was no different from the others, he was already soaked from the waist down, and his boots were filled with water, but no one cared about cleaning up, and immediately followed the team forward, they had to avoid the enemy cavalry before dawn, cross the dividing line between the two armies, and enter the mountains.

After marching continuously for more than an hour, the group had gone deep into the mountains. Xiangyang is surrounded by water on three sides and mountains on one side. There are two main land passages, westward through Wanshan, leading to Shiyan and Hanzhong; To the south through Da Xian Mountain, to Jingzhou. The surrounding mountains divide the open space outside Xiangyang into two relatively narrow, closed, and isolated spaces, but also make the road in and out of Xiangyang by land narrow, with only two roads in the west and south entering the city.

The purpose of Zhao Hao's trip was to survey the passage to attack Xiangyang City from the west, and you must know that there is always a difference between the map and the actual situation, and what you see on the map may be just a mountain beam, but it may be a steep mountain cliff, which cannot be passed at all. Some seasonal rivers in the mountains are not marked on the map at all, and they can be navigated in normal times, but a light rain will collect and form a river, which is difficult to cross. So he saw it with his own eyes, and it was really hard to make up his mind.

At this time, the rain had stopped, but it was still difficult to see the five fingers of his hand, he could not see the road clearly, and he was afraid of being discovered by the enemy, so he did not dare to raise a fire to illuminate it. You can only rely on a guide who is familiar with the terrain to guide the way, and the people behind follow up with the vague figure in front of you, and you will lose your direction two or three steps apart, and the road conditions are not clear at all.

So along the way, going around the mountain, going up and down the hill, walking down one foot deep and one foot shallow, Zhao Yu, a person with a strong sense of direction, was lost, and he didn't know where he was at all. The raincoat made of oilcloth was not breathable at all, it was stuffy and hot, even in dry clothes, it was already soaking wet, and the march that was always in a tense state made it easier to get tired.

I don't know how long I walked, after crossing a few mountain beams, Zhao Hao's breathing became heavier and heavier, panting heavily, the blood on his face was cut by thorns and branches, and he was soaked in sweat and scorched in pain, and the backpack on his body was heavy as if he was carrying a mountain. This made Zhao Hao a little frustrated, it seems that he has been the emperor for a long time, although he is still insisting on exercising, but when he goes out, he is either riding a car or riding a horse, and his strength is not as good as before, and his physical strength has dropped greatly.

"Fifth brother, give me the gun!" Peng Hu, the personal internal guard, whispered beside him, reaching out to pick up his gun.

"This ...... All right! Zhao Yu wanted to persevere, but his brain was still hesitating, his body had already yielded, and his hand let go of the gun belt and let him take the gun from his shoulder.

"Fifth brother, give me the backpack!" Another internal guard, He Bao, also took the initiative to share the burden for him.

"You guys have a bigger load than me, so forget it!" Zhao Hao grabbed the strap this time and didn't let go. His backpack contained only two pairs of clothes and a spare pair of boots, as well as three days' supplies and emergency supplies and a water bottle. And the gun was also a short-barreled cavalry gun and a multi-barreled pistol and dagger for self-defense, and the bullet had a base number, and the grenade was not taken. The others were not only fully armed, but also had to carry more ammunition and supplies, and share his bedding and tents and other miscellaneous items, all carrying a much more weight than the standard carry-on.

"Fifth brother, is there still a long way to go? If you are tired on the first day of marching, and everyone will have to carry you behind, wouldn't it be heavier! Neiwei chuckled.

"It seems to make sense, I'm lazy now!" Zhao Hao smiled self-deprecatingly, fortunately, everyone couldn't see each other's expressions when it was dark.

"The fifth brother is harder than us, he has a lot of opportunities on weekdays, and he can't be idle all day long, but we can take turns to rest, which is a hundred times harder than us!" As he spoke, he untied Zhao Yu's backpack and carried it on his body.

"You've worked hard!" The backpack on Zhao Hao's body was taken away, and he suddenly felt light, but he felt ashamed in his heart, he still became a burden to others.

"Silence, there is an enemy outpost ahead, your steps must be clear, your movements must be fast, and you must not make a sound!" At this time, a password came from the front, and Zhao Yu quickly shut up.

Everyone squatted down against the mountain wall in turn, the avant-garde had already passed first, ready for battle, and the people behind were passing by at a distance under the command of Niu Laifu. Zhao Yu looked forward, and then the lights of the enemy outpost showed that this was a mountain pass, and behind it was a cottage built against the mountain. And they were going to follow the cover of the mountain shadow and pass quietly in front of the outpost.

"Follow me!" Niu Laifu patted His Majesty on the shoulder and whispered.

"Hmm!" Zhao Yu also patted his hand and responded to say that he was ready.

Niu Laifu made a gesture of readiness for battle, and the guards acting as cover aimed their guns at the enemy sentry in the outpost, and would not hesitate to shoot them if they moved. Zhao Yu stared closely at Niu Laifu's movements, keeping a distance of two steps from him, his fast was fast, and his slow was slow, and he passed this road smoothly. He didn't realize anything, but he heard everyone breathe a sigh of relief, obviously they were more nervous than he was.

After regrouping after this cottage, the group marched at a rapid pace for about half an hour before slowing down. By this time it was already dawn, and they were guided into a dense forest by their guide. Under the command of Niu Laifu, they opened up a clearing in the depths and arranged a guard, and Zhao Yu felt that his body was falling apart at this time, and he sat on the side for a while before relieving his breath.

"Fifth brother, where did these people come from, not only have good physical strength, but also move quickly, and when marching at night, it is like having eyes on their feet, and we can barely keep up with all our strength." After arranging the camp, Niu Laifu sat down beside His Majesty, pointed to a few people scattered around, and said.

Their reconnaissance detachment consisted of 35 people, most of whom were from the guard battalion, including four internal guards, 15 guards, plus two people from the military section of the Imperial Front Office, and the others were all fresh faces. But along the way, they not only served as guides, but also took turns to serve as the avant-garde, responsible for early warning and pathfinding, and after camping, two more people were assigned to serve as guards.

Niu Laifu was very curious, as the elite of the elite in the army, not only did they all experience actual combat, they had undergone rigorous training, and they were proficient in the use of various tactics and weapons, and they all had ranks, that is to say, there were no ordinary soldiers in the guard battalion, and anyone who was put into other troops was at least a team leader.

Therefore, the officers and men of the guard battalion have always been proud of themselves and have not served anyone. And this time, escorting His Majesty to reconnoiter behind enemy lines is even more of a selected elite, but today there are people who are on a par with them, so they are naturally a little unconvinced, and they are even more curious about why such a group of mysterious people suddenly appeared around His Majesty.

"They've been here for a while, but you haven't noticed!" Zhao Hao smiled.

"Oh!" Niu Laifu listened to himself and looked at the few mysterious people who were resting around and said in surprise, "Isn't that person a miscellaneous servant who came with the navy?" ”

"Hehe, it seems that your eyesight is really good, and you can still recognize it!" Zhao Yu moved his body and said, "They are all members of the Operations Corps of the Affairs Bureau, and they have been ordered to protect the safety of the camp, and they are responsible for the guard of the periphery and the removal of Meng Yuan's spies. ”

"Disrespectful and disrespectful, you are really good at it, let us be ashamed!" Niu Laifu naturally knew about the existence of the Bureau, and many of them had also received training from the Bureau in preventing assassination and secret investigations, but they did not expect that there were such powerful figures among them.

"We can't afford such praise, the Secretariat is responsible for all the miscellaneous affairs in the palace, and our little bit of Taoism is to help you protect the safety of the camp." The man arched his hand very humbly.

"Well, you don't have to be humble, so it looks like I'm all around me." Zhao Hao interrupted the two with a smile, "The action team of the Secretariat is responsible for assassinating enemy generals and eradicating spies, just like an indestructible sharp dagger in my hand. And your guard battalion undertakes the mission of protecting the safety of Miyagi, like an unbreakable shield. Although it is the relationship between the spear and the shield, and it is also my right and left hand, they must not hurt each other, but cooperate with each other and fight together. ”

The Great Song Dynasty and Meng Yuan are mortal enemies, each wants to kill the other party as soon as possible, and the emperor of the other party is of course the best target. As the supreme leader of a country, his life and death can be said to affect the fate of the country to a certain extent. Of course, Zheng Huchen knew this truth, and he also understood that his fate was also closely related to the little emperor, and the profession and things he did were contrary to the purpose of current Confucian propaganda.

If the little emperor died, the group of Confucian ministers in the court would definitely not let go of themselves, the one who held their secrets, and would definitely try to get rid of themselves. Therefore, Zheng Huchen knows that if the little emperor lives well, he can live well. Therefore, when he learned that His Majesty was going to personally conquer Xiangyang, he immediately dispatched elites from the action corps to escort him, not only to guard against Meng Yuan, but also to guard against insiders in Jingxiang's various armies.

When the Operational Task Force arrived at the camp, they did not reveal their identities, but acted in and out of the camp in various capacities, secretly protecting the Emperor and monitoring the people entering the camp. Of course, Zhao Yu also understands that the best assassins are also the best bodyguards, because they know the loopholes in defense and the methods they use, and they can just check and fill in the gaps and eliminate the hidden dangers around them.

"Subordinates obey!" The two of them respectively represent the most powerful force in the hands of the emperor, one bright and one dark, and naturally they are not convinced, and His Majesty said this to warn them not to fight, and they hurriedly saluted.

"Where are we now? I was dizzy all night, and I couldn't tell the difference between the southeast and the north! Zhao Yu also stopped at the point, and Liu Daodao, the action team who served as a guide.

"Fifth brother, we walked in Zhongxian Mountain last night, and we took a lot of detours in order to avoid Mengyuan's checkpoints and fortresses, and our current location is here." Liu Tong spread out the map and pointed to the current location and said, "Ahead is Hutou City, which seems to be not far from Pipa Mountain, but it is very well fortified here, and it needs to be bypassed, and it should be possible to reach it overnight." ”

"Well, there's no other way to get there?" Zhao Hao frowned and said, if you want to open up the road to the west, you must use a large army, and it is definitely not possible to go around like this.

"Fifth brother, because they went ashore east of Zhonghyeon by boat from Yicheng, they have to sneak in from the southeast of Da Hyeon. However, if a large army is used, it is not necessary to do this, it can pass directly from the valley road between Junghyeon and Shanghyeon, that is, between Wanshan, where the enemy's defense is relatively lax, and it is the passage of the army, which can be quickly seized and passed. Liu Tong explained......

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